


little ducks all in a row

by disasteratsea



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, Run-On Sentences, Short, over use of commas and the word "and"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-18 08:46:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3563426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disasteratsea/pseuds/disasteratsea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>he's not sure how it happened, but one day Bellamy comes back from hunting and these little kids are following Clarke everywhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	little ducks all in a row

Bellamy isn't really sure what happened, or how it happened, but he can guess because he's seen it happen before. One day everything is normal and the next Clarke is being followed around by a group of little kids like ducklings follow their mother.

It's actually kind of funny to watch; and cute, but he'd never admit that aloud.

He thinks it must have started when she came back from her months of solitude, everyone had questions and the kids were dying to hear new stories of Earth. (True story: killer rabbits are a thing, and they are not friendly.) Clarke hadn't been talking much back then though, and this was a pretty recent development.

At the time he and a group of their people had been out of camp on a few days long hunt, without a clue to the chaos going on back home. The chaos being the fever that swept through the camp out of nowhere, knocking most people on their asses. It was horrible, Raven told them; disgusting, actually, Wick said. And while people were sweating, puking, and having very vivid fever dreams, Clarke had come out of her tent like Achilles and saved the day (Bellamy imagines that's how it was, he just really likes Greek mythology, ok? Shut up, Octavia.)by doing that things she used to do at the dropship, where she takes care of the sick and injured and makes them feel better. He's kind off sorry he missed it, it's the first time she's really gotten involved like she used to.

Anyway, they come back to find Clarke sitting with a bunch of kids braiding flowers into her hair. "Hey" she had said as if this was normal.

Later when he asked what the hell had happened while he was gone, Clarke had shrugged and said "not much".

And now wherever Clarke goes, they go. Oh, is Clarke eating lunch? Let's all sit and eat with her and not leave space for any of her friends. Does someone want to have a private conversation with Clarke? Better run to her crying over a bad dream and pull her away.

"What, are you jealous?" Raven asks, and no he is definitely not jealous that Clarke is spending all of her time with the kids. "He's so jealous" he hears Raven say to Wick as he's leaving.

But he's really not, is the thing. These kids love her and feel safe, and Clarke is smiling and laughing again, which is what he's been hoping for for months. He just thought that she would be smiling and laughing with him, and not ten year olds.

Whatever. They're supposed to be going out to gather plants later, he'll just talk to her then.

 

Two girls tag along on their excursions, of course they do, Bellamy does not roll his eyes. "I'm going to be Clarke's apprentice." Lizzie, the older of the girls says. She smiles at Clarke like she hung the freaking moon.

"Are you now."

"Mhmm!" Up ahead Clarke is leading the other girl by the hand. From the back they look like mother and child, and Bellamy's heart definitely does not skip a beat. "I'll protect everyone, and when the little kids get sick I'll sing to them and tell them stories and stay up all night with them in case they have a bad dream, just like Clarke."

Lizzie's gaze is determined and when she speaks of Clarke it's with respect; and suddenly Bellamy is glad about these kids that flock to her. Because for so long Clarke has been unable to meet people's eyes, she's been wracked with guilt and he's been agonizing over it, over how people still avoid her and blame her. And here's this kid who just wholeheartedly thinks Clarke is great, admires her and doesn't want her to be anything but herself.

It's what she deserves: to just be Clarke and to feel comfortable enough to let herself smile at people.

 

"Hey," she says from her spot in the grass next to him. The girls are running around while Bellamy and Clarke make flower crowns for them. "Is this what having a little sister is like?"

He thinks about it, telling Octavia stories and teaching her to read, braiding her hair and taking care of her. "Yeah, kind of." He says, placing the ring of little pink flowers on her head. It looks pretty on her, the pink goes with her hair colour and he's pretty sure she's blushing. "I like it" she says.

Bellamy is only a little flustered.

"Are you blushing?" She laughs.

He covers with "No, it's just the sun." Clarke laugh again and puts her crown on his head.

She's smiling and laughing, and it's not just with the kids, it's with him and Bellamy thinks that if there were any moment in time that he could freeze and stay in forever it would be this one. It's perfect, if ever there was a time to tell her that she's smart, and beautiful, and the bravest person he's ever known this would be it - but Lizzie and Etta run over and jump on her  and the chance passes him by. "Oh, pretty." They coo at Clarke and the flowers in her hair. And then they're both looking at him with wide eyes and asking him to teach them how to make such pretty crowns and Clarke is still smiling. They spend the rest of the day tying flowers together and bring enough back to camp for all of the kids.

"Pretty." He agrees when he fixes Clarke's, but he doesn't mean the flowers.


End file.
